My Games

Some sketches and doodles of my own that I’ve made in the course of attempting to better understand the interactive medium. I host these creations here not because they are “necessary” to anyone by any means, but because, for me, they are part of the discussion with which this website is concerned. I do not hold them up as great or noteworthy, but only as trifling experiments that may or may not be of interest.

A short multimedia-enhanced hypertext game about perpetual cycles of displacement and violence, as seen through the lens of a child. Takes about 15 minutes to read/play, and no gaming skills are required.

Magnuson is extensively familiar with the history of interactive fiction, including parser IF… That craft and theoretical groundwork are on display in Ishmael (Emily Short, creator of Galatea and Savoir-Faire).

On the flip side:

I would never call something I made with Twine a game in any sense of the word (Newgrounds review).

A short hypertext exploration of psychosis, about ignorance, defiance, and freedom—or: self-knowledge, acquiescence, and fate. Takes about 15 minutes to play. There are two significantly-divergent endings, but replays are intentionally discouraged.

The Gametrekking project was a Kickstarter-funded endeavor to use games as a kind of travel writing: the idea was to travel Asia and make short computer games (and notgames) about the things that impacted me along the way. This omnibus is a downloadable collection of the games that came out of the journey.

Gametrekking has been featured by Wired, PC Gamer, EGMi, Le Monde, and others. You can learn more (and find a full list of press coverage) at gametrekking.com.

To play:

For Windows: Download and run the native exe installer. Note that you need to be connected to the internet during installation, and it may take a while if you do not already have Adobe Air installed.

An amazing accomplishment… Interactive art doesn’t have to be bad. You’ve proved it! (Jason Rohrer, creator of Passage and The Castle Doctrine).

This is, as far as I know, a unique project, and one that pushes the medium a little bit further into new ground by using the game (or notgame) as a means of representing social, political and cultural information in a unique form (Chris Bateman, author of Beyond Game Design and Imaginary Games).

What I have played can only be described as poetic (Raph Koster, author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design).

Something I’d like to say… Jordan, your ‘notgames’ have done something. They hack and slash at the curtains we put up to shield ourselves from the ugly truth. That in reality, evil is decided by the individual. Among other messages. This, and your other games have a simple brutality, depressing and dark. But it’s also deeply informative and touching. They’ve given true insight on the human range of emotions, I’d say. I know that these short notgames you create bring out the best in my character. Make me sad, make me happy and many times, severely upset. I know I’ve learned from you, as many others could say they have. So please, keep on trekking. I want to learn more. (Whatafurry, Newgrounds)

Creepy, awful, and amazing (Jason Rohrer, creator of Passage and The Castle Doctrine).

As I was drowning each victim, I honestly felt like crying. Your work is amazing and please continue to make more. I always liked video games, but you have taken interactive media to a whole new level (Adnan Khan, GameTrekking comments).

On the flip side:

Sorry, but I really don’t get your idea. I understand your metaphor, but it’s way too generic to be associated with Cambodia (maringtr, Newgrounds).

A tiny interactive sketch about the mundane things of life which are also sacred; inspired by being in Vietnam during Tết. Takes about three minutes to play through, and requires no gaming skills. Made for my GameTrekking project.

Again I was surprised by your singular approach to the interactive medium. I have to say that when I want to give a new vision of the interactive medium to someone I generally talk about your work (Cyprien Chevillard, Art director at Les Improvisiak’s).

A small notgame inspired by the thousands of senseless killings committed in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime. Requires no gaming skills whatsoever. Takes about three minutes to play through. Made for my GameTrekking project.

I recommend The Killer as a great example of using retro sensibilities in entirely new ways. The 8-bit style pixel graphics are resonant of the early home computers, but the play (or rather experience) of this artlet is not like anything from the 1980s. Its sensibilities are clearly aesthetic and representational – it asks you to put yourself into a particular situation, and the more you accept its fiction the more effective it will be in terms of its emotional impact. Highly recommended (Chris Bateman, author of Beyond Game Design and Imaginary Games).

What is most interesting about The Killer is that it is a simple, short, independently developed game with a simple message. There is no totality to Magnuson’s argument, neither to this editorial, nor does it make the world’s most coherent and poignant commentary on Cambodia, or on interactivity in games. It does, however, inspire conversation and discussion around an unavoidable issue that will forever trouble video games and their violent tendencies. Not only this, but it goes some way to promote an understanding of our beloved interactive medium as something with serious artistic and social potential (Fraser Elliot, Robot Geek article).

A lot more thought-provoking than its simple title suggests (Eric Caoili, GameSetWatch).

A short game but no less affecting for that – it’s surprising and thoughtful and has a reason for being, which is more than can be said for a whole lot of games these days ("25 Great Games From 2011", Don’t Shoot For Food).

I have seldom experienced such raw emotion from a video game. I have traveled to a few of the places featured in your games and learnt a small proportion of their history in the process. however, after playing each game I had to research more and more and more (Dan B, GameTrekking comments).

On the flip side:

This isn’t deep or powerful in any way… It’s cheap. It’s a piece of art… that uses an emotionally impactful scene like a mass grave as a cheap grab at your heart strings to say "You should care about Cambodia" (insanejedi, comment at Giant Bomb).

Pretentious games, movies and books make me sick. Especially the ones that tell me I need to care about something (Fenrisulfr, comment at Giant Bomb).

A small, autobiographical notgame featuring slideshows and narration, inspired by all the wonderful people my wife and I met while traveling in Taiwan. Takes only a few minutes to play through once, though a second play will offer a different experience. Made for my GameTrekking project.

Wonderful story, it’s almost surreal. Being born and raised in the more impoverish parts of the states, the only thing I’ve ever known from people is deception, greed, and hatred. (Nagneto, Newgrounds).

Since I live in Taiwan and have for seven years now, I was a little skeptical, but still curious what you’d have to say about the place. I think between this and your other Taiwan game, you pretty much nailed it on both counts. Great work. (Geof Aberhart, GameTrekking comments).

The amazing story in the background… I simply have no words for it. (evilmini, Newgrounds).

An exploration game about colors and their consequences. Not particularly long, but a bit more difficult than my usual offerings. Hints are included in the download, and a complete video playthrough is available on YouTube (thanks Ortoslon).

5 Colors Pandora was originally made for Ludum Dare 16, where it came in 9th (out of 121 entries)… it was later entered into the 6th Gamer Maker Competition, where it made the final 15 (out of 275 entries).

Absolutely brilliant… I liked this game so much that, when I accidentally quit the game by hitting escape trying to pause when I got a phone call near the very end, I played it all the way through again just to finish (Philomory, LD Feedback).

More poem than game, Walk or Die is a study in the most minimalistic interaction I could think of. Does it deserve to be called "interactive" at all? You decide. Made for the TIGSource "A Game By Its Cover" competition; you can see the cart that inspired it here.

In 2014 Walk or Die was exhibited in a Madrid art exhibition curated by Andrés Oliva and Daniel Alonso.

Affected me the first time, and even more strongly the second (Gregory Weir, creator of Necropolis and The Majesty of Colors).

What’s amazing about it is that it undeniably has a narrative, even though it features no words… but what’s more incredible to me is how different that narrative can be for different people… This game not only tries to put us in the emotional state of that crushing loneliness… but it lets us explore it, and this to me is the unique power games have (James Portnow, co-creator of the Extra Credits video lesson series).

I can’t say that this game makes me feel particularly lonely, or particularly sad. But what it does do (very well, I think), is force me to make a decision: will I continue to engage, even though I KNOW it’s fruitless, or will I give up? And that question, I think, is profound. Because that IS what loneliness feels like: a never ending pattern of rejection. A hopeless state which will not change. And the only choices are to despair (to move, alone, into the dark), or to continue to pour out energy in what we believe (what we feel we KNOW) to be a pointless endeavor. What I loved about the game was that it demonstrated that, despite my knowledge of futility, I couldn’t choose isolation (AmelMag, NG Comments).

On the flip side:

Ye gods, it’s not emo sixth form poetry these days is it, it’s dreadful indie games (Kate S, Twitter).

The meta-game reason for it aside; it does have nice music and visuals, but you can’t use ‘minimalist’ as an excuse for not having any real content. There’d be many ways to take some time and actually give it a point beyond the meta-game point to it. Games can have meanings and messages beyond just being a ‘game,’ but a game must have some sort of rules and goals to it to fulfill its primary purpose as a game. Without that, it doesn’t matter the reasoning or point to it, it’ll just be dull (Pyrewraith, Kongregate).

An Ode to Joy… the joy of living, the joy of experiencing and acting—that is what this game is about (Victor Gijsbers, author of The Baron and Fate).

I really enjoyed it. Evoked a strong feeling of nostalgia—memories of chilly autumn days at the park and such. The photos were lovely. I loved all of the different interactions you programmed in—it was quite compelling just exploring this mysterious, kind of magical world. Made me feel like I was a kid again (Adam, TIGForums).

I have played through it five times so far. The pictures seem alive and the actions are awesome… It felt like I was there. I just wish it wasn’t so short (Brendan Magnuson, my brother).

A very small notgame about Freedom Bridge, in Korea. Takes about two minutes to play through.

In 2011 Freedom Bridge was showcased by Extra Credits as one of twenty-seven "most interesting games of recent years that you might not have tried (or heard of)." In 2012 it featured in the Belgian textbook, Les Serious Games: Une Revolution.

One of the most intense interactive experiences I’ve ever had. I went on and watched some short documentaries about Korea afterwards in order to process the tension it had left me with (Mitsche, FlashPunk Forums).

I’ve listened to countless NPR stories and read dozens of New York Times pieces on the complicated situation between North and South Korea, but nothing emotionally immobilized me the same way that Jordan Magnuson’s Freedom Bridge did (Patrick Klepek, EGMi issue 241.5, page 5).

A game of world travel inspired by the 10 Days board games and aimed at casual game players. It was designed with netbooks in mind, for Intel’s Atom Developer Challenge. It was chosen by Intel as the best education & reference application of the contest.

The game was made in Python, which means that Mac and Linux builds should be possible. If anyone is interested in porting the game, feel free to check out the source code on GitHub. Please let me know if you do anything with it :)

Critical Distance

Digital Tools

As Chris Lepine said, "Martin’s short and eclectic articles bring together an impressive range of writing, from in-depth interviews with a wide range of developers, to technical inspirations normally found in the workshop of a mad clockmaker. His interests in the mechanical, retro, conceptual, and algorithmic, should inspire any fellow artist or creative mind to pursue their own unique development style."

Lost Garden

My Shared Items

The most interesting of the articles I've been reading lately. Generally these articles will come from the other sources listed here, and sometimes I include notes. A bit arrogant to say my personal reading list is "worth reading," but I don't have anywhere else to put it, really.

Indie Love

GarageGames

Home of the Underdogs

Phenomenal site with reviews and downloads of tons of old games you can no longer find in stores. This site is an unofficial continuation of the original HOTU, which was founded by shockingly brilliant Sarinee Achavanunta in 1998. Come back to us Sarinee!